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"Drop The Chelupa!"
March 24, 2000
Sega has announced that Phantasy Star Online will be released worldwide
this summer, but it won't be the massively multi-player online RPG that
many people expected it to be. Sega's press release on the matter says,
"Four players will be able to participate over the Internet." It also
says, "Players may search for their friends using their registered IDs to
find which game they are playing or to ask them to join a game." Based on
these statements, it sounds like you'll just be going through a single-
player-style game with a couple of friends at a time, as opposed to being
in a huge virtual world with thousands of other gamers.
There's nothing wrong with this, but it's far from the console
equivalent of EverQuest (which is what many people expected it to be).
Also, because the game will be released in multiple countries at the same
time, "All conversation in the game will use a set of graphical symbols and
pre-defined phrases." Hmm... graphical symbols and pre-defined phrases
instead of actual dialogue... sounds to me like the foundation for a great
story line!
Due to the level of graphic violence found in their upcoming PC game
Soldier of Fortune, Activision is going to release two different versions
of the game when it ships on March 28. Both of them will be rated Mature,
but one of them will have much less violence than the other. The more
violent version will have a parental lock-out feature, and the less violent
version will come pre-configured with the parental lock-out feature
permanently enabled. Both games feature an "Animated Violence" warning,
but only the more violent version features an "Animated Blood and Gore"
warning.
Both versions of the game will feature a much larger version of the
standard "Mature" rating label not only on the front of the box, but also
on the back and spine of the box. There will also be a large warning on
the front of the box that clearly explains the differences between the two
versions. Despite all of this, it's a certainty that some that un-
attentive parent somewhere will be shocked to find their kids playing such
a violent game, and they will blindly blame video games for all of
society's problems. Never mind the fact that anyone of any age can easily
get a gun in this country... it's those damn video games that are really to
blame!
Star Wars Online won't let you play as a Jedi, nor will it let you play
as Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, or any other major character.
Instead, you'll choose from generic characters like rebel soldiers, bounty
hunters, or mercenaries. You won't be able to play as any well-known
characters, but some of them will still be in the game as computer-
controlled characters that you can interact with (including Boba Fett).
The game will take place in the Star Wars universe as it was at the
beginning of Episode IV (the original Star Wars), and it will begin on
Luke's home planet of Tatooine. Star Wars Online scheduled to be released
for the PC sometime next year.
Verant Interactive previously signed deals with both LucasArts and
Activision to develop online RPGs set in the Star Wars and Star Trek
universes, respectively. This created a conflict of interest for the
company since they would be developing two games for two different
publishers that would end up competing against each other. Verant had to
make a choice between the two games, and of course, they chose Star Wars.
A Verant spokesperson might have said, "That's like having to choose
between the WWF's Trish Stratus or Tori. No contest!" Activision is still
going to publish an online RPG set in the Star Trek universe at some point,
but it won't be developed by Verant. Activision is currently "evaluating
other potential developers to partner with."
Midway has signed NFL MVP Kurt Warner to promote their upcoming Arena
Football game. The game is now called Kurt Warner's Arena Bowl, and it's
an arcade-style game in the same vein as NFL Blitz. Midway is hoping to
release the game for the PlayStation in May and the Dreamcast in June.
Eidos Interactive is so confident that the Dreamcast version of Tomb
Raider: The Last Revelation will be in high demand that their initial
shipment of the game will be 500,000 copies. The Dreamcast version is
exactly the same as the PlayStation version with the exception of slightly
better graphics (meaning they're 1997-level instead of 1996-level). A
Wal-Mart employee might have said, "Yeah, we're getting the PlayStation 2
version of that next week." (If you don't understand that reference, read
the damn Retailers series...)
Sega is in the process of creating a huge Sega Sports display at the San
Francisco Giants' new baseball stadium. An "interactive gaming complex"
created by Sega will feature attention-grabbing displays between seven and
15 feet tall. Starting on April 28, fans will be able to play one of 20
Dreamcasts hooked up in the facility, all of which will be playing Sega
Sports games. A five-inch TV will be included in each of the displays so
that fans can watch the baseball game and play the Dreamcast at the same
time.
After several years of delays, Shiny Entertainment's Messiah is finally
done, and it will be on store shelves by the end of the month. Of course,
its once-revolutionary technology is now obsolete, but that won't matter if
the game itself is fun. In the meantime, Ion Storm's John Romero claims
that Daikatana will be released "by Easter," although he didn't say whether
he meant this Easter or next Easter. Romero claims that Daikatana is
"nearing completion," but then again, he's been saying that since late
1997...
Codemasters has clarified their previous statement that they're shutting
down all of their US operations other than the development of two online
games. The company will still be bringing many of their European games
over to the US (including Mike Tyson Boxing), they just won't be developing
any more games in the US other than the two online games.
Eidos Interactive's stock price fell 51% in one day after their recent
announcement that they are nowhere near profitable. Eidos is blaming their
losses on decreased PlayStation software sales. Eidos' Greg Rizzer said,
"The golden age of the PlayStation is over, but we continue to focus on
making great games." Rizzer should have also said, "We also focus on
telling people that they have been added to our product release list and
then never sending them any games or contacting them ever again. We did it
to Master Gamer, and we'll do it to you too!"
Infogrames has cancelled plans for the recently-acquired GT Interactive
to move its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles or Salt Lake City,
Utah. Like that episode of Seinfeld where George doesn't want to live near
his parents because he can't deal with the possibility of them popping in
at any time, GT would probably like to be farther away from its new parent
than it currently is. Flying from Infogrames' headquarters in France to GT
in New York is no short trip, but it's still much more convenient than
flying from France to LA or Salt Lake City. GT employees must now live in
constant fear of the dreaded pop-in.
Infogrames' CEO Bruno "Don't Piss Me Off Or I'll Buy You" Bonnell
previously said that the GT brand would be killed, and that all future
games from GT would carry the Infogrames brand. Now Infogrames says that
this may or may not end up being the case. A committee of Infogrames
executives (led by Bonnell, of course) is currently "exploring the branding
issues" and trying to decide whether or not to kill the GT brand. An
announcement on this matter is expected within the next month or two.
Interplay didn't come anywhere near profitability in 1999. The company
posted a net loss of $40 million, even worse than the $28 million loss
reported in 1998. This is due in part to the delays of such high-profile
games as Giants and Messiah. It also can't be good that over 80% of
Interplay's 1999 revenues were derived from the sagging PC game market.
The company hopes to turn its fortunes around by focusing much more on
consoles. A controlling stake in Interplay is now owned by Titus (no
relation to the funny new series on Fox).
The name of the huge corporation in Perfect Dark is DataDyne, and a
similarly-themed company has a web site at www.datadyne.com. This is not a
real corporation, but a hoax created by Nintendo to enhance Perfect Dark's
story with lots of fictional background information. Similar tactics were
used by the creators of The Blair Witch Project.
Sega has given exact release dates to several of their upcoming
Dreamcast games. Due out in June are Space Channel 5 (June 6) and Ecco the
Dolphin (June 20). July 11 will see the release of three Dreamcast games:
Seaman, D2, and Virtua Tennis. A Nintendo employee said, "Wait a minute!
Why aren't they spacing out their releases with three months between every
game? That just ain't right!"
GT Interactive has lost a lawsuit against a game development company
called Scavenger. Scavenger claims that GT abruptly cut off funding in the
development of several games that Scavenger was creating for GT. By adding
up the money they felt they were owed, plus the royalties they might have
earned if the games had been released, plus the contracts with other
publishers that they could have signed if they weren't already signed with
GT, Scavenger ended up seeking over $110 million from GT. They didn't get
$110 million, but they did get $1.9 million plus interest, which is a heck
of a lot better than nothing.
Electronic Arts has acquired the license to make games based on the TNN
series RollerJam, whose ratings are much lower than ECW's TNN show despite
having a marketing budget several times larger than ECW's. The first
RollerJam game will be released for the PlayStation this summer. The
game's primary target audience will be viewers of the show, which ensures
that at least 47 copies of the game will be sold...
Tremor Entertainment, the company that ported Railroad Tycoon 2 from the
PC to the PlayStation, is also working on a Dreamcast version of the game.
Set for a summer release, the Dreamcast version of the game will have
several new scenarios as well as online multi-player capabilities.
Sega's worldwide president Shoichiro Irimajiri recently spoke out
against the PlayStation 2. Irimajiri says that the system will sell well
because it's a cheap DVD player, not a great video game system. He also
said, "The machine itself is not a product that will shake up the video
game market." In a credibility-damaging statement, Irimajiri went on to
claim that the PlayStation 2 is not much more advanced than the Dreamcast.
A Sony spokesperson could have retaliated by saying, "Somebody show this
man some technical specs!"
One of the video games based on the James Bond movie The World Is Not
Enough is headed to the Nintendo 64. The game that the N64 will be getting
is being developed by Eurocom and will be published by Electronics Arts.
It will also be released for the PlayStation. EA is internally developing
a different Bond game that will be released for the PlayStation 2 and PC.
A recent mainstream news story that was picked up by many news services
across the country had the headline, "Video Games, Violence Said Linked,"
perhaps with a sub-heading of "Man, that's an awkwardly-worded headline."
Who is Linked, and why did he say, "Video Games, Violence"? Anyway, Iowa
State professor Craig Anderson was quoted in the story as saying, "There is
good reason to think the effects of exposure to violent video games will be
even greater than that of violent movies and television." By "good
reason," Anderson might have meant, "My advisors told me to say that
because it looks good on paper and gives me good publicity."
Capcom of Japan has cancelled the Game Boy Color version of Resident
Evil. The game was a very ambitious project that claimed to bring the 3D
environments of the original Resident Evil to the GBC. It was previously
delayed for an indefinite period of time, and Capcom finally pulled the
plug because they weren't pleased with how the game was turning out. It
was in development at England-based HotGen Studios. Ironically, HotGen's
web site for the game previously said, "It's the project they said was
impossible!" Turns out "they" were right...
In a turn of events that will give ammunition to atheists everywhere,
The Dukes of Hazzard for the PlayStation has already sold 500,000 copies.
The game's developer has been bragging in recent media interviews about how
they were handicapped by having to develop the entire game in only three-
and-a-half months, but they still managed to do it. That's like an NFL
team saying, "Hey everybody, look at our quarterback! His arm is broken
and he can't throw the ball properly! Isn't it amazing?"
Sony has told all PlayStation 2 publishers and developers that they "may
not make statements regarding the launch of the PS2 system or make claims
that any particular products will be available at launch." Despite the gag
order on launch games, third-party companies are allowed to speak freely
about post-launch games.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Id Software's John Carmack has
just announced that Quake 3: Arena is bringing brought to the Dreamcast.
When questioned on this matter, a spokesperson for the Journal said, "Oh...
you mean that was announced three weeks ago? Never mind..."
Reports coming out of Japan indicate that Capcom has delayed and re-
tooled their first Resident Evil game for the PlayStation 2 in order to
fully take advantage of the system's capabilities. This isn't the first
time that major design changes have been made to a Resident Evil game in
the midst of its development cycle. Capcom got about 60% through the
development of Resident Evil 2 and decided that they weren't pleased with
how it was turning out, so they ditched it and started over.
Final Fantasy 8's theme song Eyes on Me (which doesn't debut until near
the end of the game) has won the award for best "Western-style" music in
Japan. The Eyes on Me single has sold over 400,000 copies in Japan. In a
bizarre reference to The Tom Green Show, a Square spokesperson exclaimed,
"I'm gonna throw the piggy off the hill!"
Taito is developing an action game for the PlayStation called Cosmo
Warrior Zero. Upon hearing this news, I called Taito's headquarters, asked
to be directed to the PR department, and asked the person who picked up the
phone, "How did you get the license to make a game in which you get to play
as Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer and save the world?" The person on the phone
said, "What?" I repeated my question and they hung up on me.
Imagine Media employees and close personal friends of mine Chris Charla
and Carrie Shepherd recently celebrated the birth of their first child.
The baby narrowly beat Shiny Entertainment's Messiah to completion.
Shiny's Dave Perry said, "Chris Charla has proven that the gestation period
for a baby is less than that of a game." (A baby takes nine months, a game
takes three years in Shiny's case.) Imagine's web site says that Chris is
"very happy with the final product, although he feels that it is still too
early to talk about a sequel." In all seriousness, I'd like to take this
opportunity to congratulate Chris and Carrie on their new baby.
NEWS BRIEFS
Acclaim posted a net loss of over $20 million in their latest financial
quarter. They expect the loss to jump to $50 million by the end of the
year. Gee... do you think all of Acclaim's crappy games have anything to
do this?
THQ has taken a minority stake in Yuke's, the Japanese developer of WWF
Smackdown. THQ's ownership of Yuke's is under 20%, but it gives them
publishing rights to all of the company's future wrestling games (which
will be for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2).
Take-Two Interactive has revealed that their first Austin Powers game
for the Dreamcast will be a Mario Kart-style racing game called Austin
Powers: Mojo Rally.
NovaLogic's Delta Force 2 for the PC will be used by the US Army to help
train its soldiers. The game is such a realistic simulation that the Army
believes that playing it will make soldiers "more lethal and better at
surviving."
SALES CHARTS
The following sales charts are based on unit sales at all retailers in
the week of March 5 to 11.
Dreamcast
1. Crazy Taxi (click on the blue text for Master Gamer's review of the game)
2. NHL 2K
3. Carrier
4. Chu Chu Rocket
5. NBA 2K
PlayStation
1. WWF Smackdown
2. Gran Turismo 2
3. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
4. The Dukes of Hazzard (why, dammit, why?)
5. Fear Effect
old games still in the top ten: Spyro the Dragon, The Need For Speed: High
Stakes, Gran Turismo, Sled Storm, and Namco Museum Volume 3
Nintendo 64
1. Pokemon Stadium
2. Mario Party 2
3. WWF Wrestlemania 2000
4. Donkey Kong 64
5. Super Smash Bros.
old games still in the top ten: Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, and
Goldeneye 007
PC
1. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
2. The Sims
3. RollerCoaster Tycoon
4. Command & Conquer Tiberian Sun: Firestorm
5. RollerCoaster Tycoon: Corkscrew Follies
old game still in the top ten: StarCraft
Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News,
GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Daily Radar,
Sega X, PSX 2 Online, Nintendorks, IGN, MCV, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku,
Gaming Age, The NPD Group, www.hamsterdance.com
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